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FYROM looks ready to pass name deal before January 15

The prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Zoran Zaev, appears confident of mustering the support of the 80 MPs needed to ratify the name deal with Greece, telling his country’s 24 TV channel on Thursday that he “genuinely believes it will be possible to get support from 85 or 90 lawmakers, if not more.”

Diplomatic sources in Skopje, meanwhile, indicated on Thursday that the deal, renaming the country “Republic of North Macedonia,” may be ratified by FYROM’s lawmakers ahead of a January 15 deadline, with Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi on Thursday saying that the process will commence on January 9.

“Judging from experience, the process will not take more than five or six days,” Xhaferi was quoted by the state-run MIA news agency as saying. “However, bearing in mind that the opposition has already announced that it will abstain, it is likely that it will be completed even sooner.”